Weird Things You Didn’t Know About Nail Polish

You may go for weekly manicures, or you may care less about your unpainted nails. But no matter your stance on doing your digits, we’re pretty sure you’re going to be fascinated by these fun facts about nail polish. Take a look at some really weird things you likely didn’t know about one of the most-loved beauty products.

Ancient Egyptians loved their manis.

Egyptians of the highest social status wore nail polish and it’s been said that only the elite of the elite were allowed to wear dark colors, which signified their rank.

Ancient people got pretty creative about making their own polish.

Beeswax, egg whites, and vegetable dyes were just some of the ingredients used by people during the Ming Dynasty to create their own nail varnish.

The French manicure really did come from France.

The idea behind this manicure was that it allowed members of French royalty to have elegant hands and nails, thus further separating them from the lower class.

Nail polish is actually car paint.

Revlon started making nail polish as we know it today in the 1920s. Polish is actually finely refined car paint, which is why it’s so hard to create “natural” nail polish that acts just like the real thing.

Nail polish remover will outlive us all.

Nail polish remover never expires, meaning that the bottle under your sink can last as long as you need it to.

You might need to clean out your polish stash.

An unopened bottle of nail polish only has a shelf life of one year. Which is such a bummer, since there is no way to finish an entire bottle in just 12 months.

Nail polish used to be scandalous.

In the 1950s, red nails were considered “promiscuous” and some churches even required that women remove their nail polish on Sundays before religious worship. (Way to kill a mani buzz, right?) This stigma likely stemmed from the Victorian era, when it was considered sinful to paint your nails — the women who did so were typically prostitutes.

You shouldn’t always have polish on your nails.

According to experts, nails are actually “living tissue” and wearing polish continuously can dry our nails out. Not only can this dryness make our nails more brittle and prone to breakage, but a lack of oxygen can make it harder for our nails to fight infections.

In 2012, we spent $768 million on nail polish.

Apparently, this was a 32 percent growth from 2011, which experts say may have been due to the rise of nail art and more color choices for polish.

The most expensive nail polish in the world costs $250,000.

Created by diamond company Azature, the polish contains 267 real black diamond carats. So, yeah, we guess that pretty much justifies the price tag.